


Earworm

by thesquidliesthuman



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King, It - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Richie Tozier, M/M, Stanley is Totally Straight™, Straight but Suddenly Compelled to Sing All Star in the Shower, That's Our Stan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-06-07 23:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15230364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesquidliesthuman/pseuds/thesquidliesthuman
Summary: Stanley Uris was a simple man. He wore decent looking clothing, had a good job, and did what was expected of him as a man of his age. His only problem was that he couldn’t seem to find himself someone to love.A Stozier soulmate AU in which whenever your soulmate listens to or sings a song you automatically sing along, even if you've never heard it before.I rated it it teen but it's mostly for some minor language, so, yeah.





	1. All That Glitters Is Gold

Stanley Uris was a simple man. He wore decent looking clothing, had a good job, and did what was expected of him as a man of his age. His only problem was that he couldn’t seem to find himself someone to love.

He was confiding in his best friend, Richie Tozier, as they hung out together one Summer evening. They were sitting in the living room of Richie’s apartment, sort of watching a movie as Stanley spoke. “Richie, I don’t get it. I have a good job, a decently sized apartment all to myself, but I still can’t find anyone.”

“Maybe no one wants to get your shitty music stuck in their head, “ Richie had casually replied, pushing his glasses, that looked quite similar to the ones he had back when they were only twelve, up to rest where they should on the bridge of his nose.

Stan simply rolled his eyes, leaning back on the light olive colored couch that he was sure Richie had picked up from some junky thrift store. “Don’t judge my music taste before judging your own, Trashmouth.”

Richie gasped, putting a hand over his heart and feigning an expression of disdain. “Stanley Uris! How dare you insult me in such a way? I am truly hurt. What would your mother say?” His voice was loud, clutching at his chest like he was having a heart attack.

This didn’t bother Stan, after years of knowing Richie and putting up with his antics. He simply elbowed Richie’s shoulder lightly, “keep it down, don’t you have a roommate?”

Richie shrugged, pretending to be completely unaware that their other friend, Bill, was sleeping just down the hall. “No, I don’t think so. Hardly comes out of his room, that boy.” 

Stan simply rolled his eyes again, “sure, whatever you say, Rich.” He turned his attention back to the screen, having missed bits of the movie while talking to Richie. For some reason, however, he couldn’t exactly focus.

-

There was an event that had happened to Stanley recently. As much as he tried, he couldn’t come up with a rational explanation. Anyone else he would’ve told would’ve justified what had happened to be tied to his soulmate. For some reason, however, he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that.

Maybe it was because of what exactly had happened. Maybe it was the song that he heard. Whatever it was, Stan either couldn’t believe or simply refused to let himself believe that it had anything to do with his soulmate.

Stan’s parents had told him stories about soulmates in his youth. In fact, his parents were soulmates themselves. With these stories, they brought up Staniel with the knowledge that his soulmate would be a nice, quiet Jewish girl who listened to peaceful music. So why was he suddenly hit with the urge to sing ‘All Star’, a song which he personally had never heard until Richie played it within his earshot the next day, at three in the morning?

He was held late at work, one of his coworkers had recently quit and it had been left up to Stanley to take care of the tasks they had left behind. It was a nice evening, so once he had finished Stan decided to walk home. 

By the time he got back to his apartment, it was roughly two in the morning. He made himself a quick dinner before hopping in the shower, planning on going to bed immediately afterward, when suddenly a song he had never heard before played perfectly in his head as if he had heard it a million times.

He couldn’t stop himself, as he stepped into the hot shower, the lyrics and melody of the song became tumbling past his lips before his brain took over to attempt to pause whatever it was that was coming out of his mouth.

It was even worse the next day when Richie played it, the same thing had happened and once again Stan was helpless as he rocked out and sang along to a song he didn’t know.   
His friends weren’t exactly helpful about the situation either. Most of them just laughed, picturing “Stanley ‘Stick Up His Ass’ Uris”, a nickname lovingly given to him by Richie, dancing to ‘All Star’. Of all the songs for his ‘soulmate’ to have chosen!

Mike and Ben, were nice about it, thankfully. He could always count on them for support and he was most certainly grateful for them. They listened to his concerns and tried their best to convince him that maybe his soulmate was that perfect Jewish girl his parents had dreamed up for him, she just had an odd music taste.

Stan thanked them for their help, however, he was having none of it. 

-

Richie watches Stan as he just stares at the screen not saying anything, even after the credits had rolled. He begins to poke at Stan’s shoulder, “Stan, Stanley, Stan the Man the Jew With A Plan, Scooby Jew, Stanley ‘Stick Up His Ass’ Uris.”

Stan jumped slightly as he was shaken from his thoughts, turning around to face Richie with a displeased expression, “beep beep. Can I help you?”

Richie shook his head with a small grin, “no, no, I’m alright. Can I help you? You seem to be quite interested in the menu screen.” His tone was teasing as he spoke, bringing his arms up to rest behind his head. 

Stan huffed, shaking his head, “no, I’m just thinking about that… thing… that happened last week. He leaned back into the couch a little, resting his right arm on the arm of the couch while his left hand sat casually in his lap.

Richie tried his hardest to conceal his laughter, though, in all honesty, he wasn’t doing a very good job. “You mean the thing with your soulmate? I still can’t believe she happened to be listening to that the same time I played it. My God.”

Stan’s eyes widened with a realization, but he tried his best to hide signs of discovery as he jokingly hit Richie’s shoulder, “there is no way that it was my soulmate. Absolutely not.”

Stanley Uris had realized something, something pretty important. It was highly possible that Richie Tozier, his best friend for at least twenty years, might be his soulmate. Again, he didn’t want to believe it.


	2. Guilty of Nothing but Geography

Richie Tozier didn't expect this any more than Stan did. Sure, after Stan just happened to sing All-Star the same time he was listening to it he had his suspicions. However, there was no way he and Stan would ever work out together. Besides, Stan had some hot Jewish girl or something, at least she had a good sense of humor.

Richie wasn't even 100% sure that he had a soulmate in the first place. Who would be able to fall in love with him? He was loud, annoying, and really just a piece of work in general. At least, in his opinion. 

So when Richie was walking home one evening from his part-time job as a disk jockey for the college radio station, he was more surprised at the fact he was actually singing a song rather than what song it was.

Sure, maybe he had never heard whatever song it was before, ever. Usually, the songs that people had ended up hearing from their soulmates they had heard once or twice before. And maybe, since the song seemed to have something to do with Birds, Richie's mind had wandered to Stan with that possibility of ‘what if?’

Richie nearly froze in his tracks, shaking the thought out of his mind before continuing to walk back to the apartment he and Bill shared. He, Richie Tozier, refused to fall in love with Stanley Uris and possibly ruin a perfectly good friendship.

However, a guy can always dream, right?

\----------------

Bill and Stan were casually hanging out in Bill and Richie's living room, listening to one of Stan’s current favorite songs. It was literally titled ‘Birds’, how could he not love it? 

Bill messed around on his phone while Stan happily sang along, just as Richie happened to step through the door while humming the melody.

Stan looks to the door, turning the music down while looking to Richie with a quirked eyebrow, “you listen to Coldplay? Mr. Meme Music?” 

Richie freezes for a moment, unsure of how to respond to that. Meaning, should he pretend he does or be honest? “Uh, yeah. Love those guys, totally.” Stan eyeballed him with a suspicious look while Bill connected the dots. 

Stan was singing one of Richie’s favorite songs… Richie was humming Stan’s favorite songs… Holy shit. His eyes widened once he figured it out, immediately going to text the rest of their friends about the situation. They had all asked for updates, and he was willing to provide unless he was specifically told not to.   
Meanwhile, in reality-land, Stan had shrugged it off, continuing to play the song while Richie couldn’t help but sing along with him. Stupid soulmate bullshit, everybody is always singing. 

\----------------

The big realization didn’t hit Stanley until later that week. It hit him in the form of a certain Eddie Kaspbrak. 

Ever since he and Bill had realized they were soulmates, it was rare Eddie wasn’t talking about it in conversation. For some reason though, as they sat together at the local cafe and talked, he seemed to be talking about it more than usual. 

Maybe it was just Stan, but today the words ‘love’ and ‘soulmate’, words Stan usually didn’t care about until now. Why did they stick out to him? The whole situation was confusing. Honestly, Stan wished that soulmates weren’t even a thing, that would make all of this so much easier.

Especially when he almost choked on his chai latte as the realization that Richie Tozier was the most likely candidate for his soulmate. At least seven-hundred and three different thoughts raced through Stan’s mind.

Eddie watched as Stan choked, and let him recover before asking, “did you finally figure it out?” 

Stan looked over at Eddie with a bewildered expression, “how did you know?”

“The rest of us have known for ages, we were just waiting for you and Richie to put it together.” Eddie explained, taking a sip from his own iced coffee, “when are you going to talk to him about it?”

The question weighed heavy on Stan’s mind for the rest of the day. He attempted to sleep it off. But then the question came to mind again the next day. And the next day, and the day after that.

However, what if he just didn’t talk to Richie about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is short and I know that but I felt bad about not updating in forever.


End file.
